Supportive care interventions in metastatic bone disease: scoping review

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Palliative Care
• Clinical Trials Research

Background:

• Metastatic bone disease (MBD) significantly impacts cancer patient quality of life.
• Growing population of patients with secondary musculoskeletal involvement from primary cancers.
• Lack of rigorous reviews on supportive care interventions for MBD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and appraise clinical trials on supportive care interventions for MBD.
• To examine intervention characteristics, study designs, and evidence quality.

Main Methods:

• Searched PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar (Sept 2017-2022).
• Included clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.
• Evaluated evidence quality based on treatment types and study design.

Main Results:

• 13 articles (7 trials, 2 protocols, 4 reviews) were included from 572 publications.
• Feasible interventions: palliative care, radiotherapy, alternative medicines.
• Interventions focused on fatigue and pain; no fracture-specific endpoints reported.

Conclusions:

• Supportive care for MBD is feasible and measurable using patient-reported outcomes.
• Evidence quality is moderate to strong, but few trials address skeletal events.
• Further trials needed for fracture risk reduction and quality of life improvement.